Kyle Palic wrestles Wyatt Eitel of Scott Community at 220 pounds during the first round of the Class 3-2-1A state tournament in Hays Friday. Palic won by fall and went a perfect 4-0 in the tournament to win the championship title, becoming Marion’s first state wrestling champion in school history. Free Press photos by Janae Rempel Seven Warrior wrestlers represented […]

•Tabor College basketball teams celebrate twin KCAC titles Members of the Tabor College men’s basketball team celebrate their newly won Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship in social-media style by taking a team “selfie” after an 87-73 win over Ottawa University Saturday night in Hillsboro. The Tabor women’s team secured their own KCAC championship earlier in the evening by beating […]

• One-man play will debut in Goessel. Maynard Knepp dons the garb he will use to portray a fictional Amish minister in “Jonas, the Life and Times of an Amishman,” a one-man presentation he and wife Carol Duerksen have developed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first Amish-based novel, “Runaway Baby.” Courtesy photo The husband and wife team of […]

Rod Just, fourth-grade teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, explains soil conservation practices applied to this field during his field tour last spring. Courtesy photo Going the extra mile—literally and figuratively—is a key reason Rod Just was named the 2015 Conserva­tion Teacher Award winner by the Marion County Soil Con­servation District. A fourth-grade teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, Just developed and […]

Edel Miller smiles after judges confirm that she spelled the championship word “appreciation” correctly to win the county title. Don Ratzlaff / Free Press You can bet Edel Miller has renewed appreciation for the word “appreciation.” The Goessel eighth-grader claimed the title of Marion County Spelling Bee champion Feb. 11 by spelling it correctly in a showdown with fellow finalist […]

Gina Schaefer’s two-story home on West Santa Fe Street shows the damage caused by a fire that began Friday late afternoon. Efforts to put out the blaze lasted 18 hours with three community fire departments participating.Patty Decker / Free Press A house in Marion was destroyed by fire late Friday afternoon, even though more than 30 firefighters from Marion, Florence […]

Andrew Thomas dunks the ball to give Tabor a 26-18 lead over Kansas Wesleyan Thursday. Thomas led the Bluejays with 29 points and 11 rebounds in Tabor’s 88-79 win. Janae Rempel / Free Press The Tabor College men’s basketball team continues to lead the KCAC race after defeating Kansas Wesleyan and Bethany last week. Bethany—The Swedes came into the contest […]

The city adopted a simplified design for its highway signs during 2014, as part of the city’s new outdoor marketing campaign. Free Press photo A lot can change in one year, but for the city of Marion, the transformation has affected the governing body and all departments. According to Todd Heit­schmidt, Marion’s first-year mayor, last year’s growth was centered around […]